


Amanda, T'Set And The Obsidian Sword

by Homo_Vulcanensis



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: F/F, F/M, Healing Trance, Linguistics, Mysterious artefact, Purely self-indugent, University Life, Vulcan OCs - Freeform, archeology, heck yeah science, nice!Sarek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:49:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28958229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Homo_Vulcanensis/pseuds/Homo_Vulcanensis
Summary: Visiting an archeological dig site, Doctor of linguistics Amanda Grayson and her colleague and friend T'Set make a discovery that changes Vulcan's history forever and jeopardizes T'Set's health. Will they be believed? A pretty normal day, really.
Relationships: Amanda Grayson/Sarek, original female characters - Relationship
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Did I write something purely self-indulgent again? Did nobody ask for this? Yes. Maybe you can enjoy it anyways.

The alarm sounded, and Amanda rolled out of bed. She sighed and stretched, and trotted to the bathroom. Vulcan’s first sun, _Alam’ak_ , had risen a while ago, and was shining in her bedroom. It was many years ago, almost immediately after they had gotten together, that she and Sarek had decided that both should have their own bedroom, as their sleeping patterns differed greatly. Sarek would lay awake when Amanda moved in her sleep (and yes, maybe snored a bit), and Amanda could not go back to sleep after Sarek would rise to meditate. It was incredible how much noise a Vulcan could make when moving through the darkness.

Therefore, the breakfast table was the first place they would meet in the morning. As per usual, Sarek was already sitting there, fully dressed and sipping tea. “Morning.”, Amanda murmured and let herself fall on the other chair. Sarek raised an amused eyebrow. “Sleep is usually considered to be restful.”, he remarked. “I know. But it was so hot, I was sweating all night.”, Amanda returned. “The hot part of the year will soon be over.”, Sarek said and pushed her tea and breakfast cereals towards Amanda. “Thank you.”, Amanda said and smiled. Sarek Vulcan-smiled back.

Amanda’s PADD signaled that it had just received a message. It was laying on its loading station at the end of the kitchen table. She wouldn’t have kept it there back when the children still lived at home, but now, she didn’t really care anymore. Spock had left for the Academy four years ago. She picked up the PADD and read the message. It was from T’Set, her colleague at the Vulcan Science Academy. They had worked together since Amanda had moved to Vulcan, and had become good friends since then. In that time, they had also revolutionized the methods of linguistic research as it was done in the Federation, even though both wouldn’t put it that way. They shared the professorship, and T’Set was head of department as well. Not that this meant much more work anyway.

“Is it T’Set?”, Sarek asked. Amanda nodded. “We’re going on a dig site today. The archeological department has asked us to help them again.”, Amanda replied, mouth full. “I believe that you will need desert clothes.”, Sarek stated. Amanda nodded again. “That’s why she sent me a message.”, she explained.

“ _Tonk’peh._ ”, Amanda greeted as T’Set entered their office. She looked funny, dressed in long, flowing robes, with her tight black and white scientist uniform over it. She almost immediately took the uniform off and threw it to the hook that already held Amanda’s. T’Set stemmed from the P’Jem colony, was quite young, unusually tall (for a female Vulcan), brown-haired and opposed to any and all authority except her own. She was quite remarkable, and definitely that kind of Vulcan that the rest of the planet pretended to know nothing about. “Good morning, _zhai’sa-fu_.”, she replied and sat in front of her desk that was positioned at a right angle to Amanda’s. T’Set had invented the nickname years ago, translating ‘Grayson’ into Vulcan literally. Speaking of eccentric. Amanda enjoyed her presence a great deal nonetheless.

“What is this archeology thing about?”, Amanda asked. “They have found another pre-Surakian noble grave, and they now wish us to come and read the writings on the wall.”, T’Set explained. “Should I bring the ancient philology dictionary?”, Amanda asked and sighed, already downloading the file from the database. “It would be preferable if the dialect is not too obscure, as I already have plans for the evening.”, T’Set added. “Oh, what is that?”, Amanda wondered. T’Set gave her a smug look. “Andorian movie night.”, she said, and Amanda had to laugh.

Soon after, Amanda left for her seminary on _Linguistics in First Contact Situations_ , and T’Set stayed at the office to fill out some paperwork and grade her own course’s assignments. They also had a junior assistant, an advanced student of theirs, who would help them stay on top of the VSA’s ever-changing regulations and would be there for student questions and queries. Additionally, he made great tea.

A cup of tea in one hand, Amanda entered the small room that was reserved for her seminary. All five of her students were already sitting there, talking to each other. Except one Betazoid student, all were Vulcan. This was the VSA after all. “I think we can.”, Serina, the aforementioned Betazoid, said. “Your own government says very differently.”, T’Rin, her neighbor, replied. “But just because they don’t want to anger any of the folks that seem to live in the past. Just imagine the ado if it came out that we could reproduce with other species!”, Serina returned. They realized that Amanda had entered the room. “We shall continue this discussion later.”, T’Rin decided.

The seminary went as planned, and Amanda was, as so often, glad that her class was so small that everyone’s thoughts and ideas could be heard. Bless tiny departments! After discussing and debating for what felt like ten minutes, but was actually two hours, Amanda returned to the office. “Are you prepared?”, T’Set asked. Amanda took her backpack that she had already been filled with the needed materials, pens, paper, her dictionaries and a high-contrast camera for documentations. It also held her lunch and two bottles of water. She nodded. “I have already requested and been approved a vehicle.”, T’Set informed her.

A person from the twentieth century might have at first glance identified the vehicle as a car, but neither T’Set nor Amanda shared this impression. The main reason for that was that the ‘car’ was actually a small atmospheric shuttle that had four rubber stands. They got inside, and T’Set put in the coordinates that would bring them to the dig site. The vehicle, being autopiloted, lifted itself from the ground and moved away from the VSA’s campus.

“How are the children?”, T’Set asked after a while of staring outside. “Last I heard, quite well. Michael has been promoted to Lieutenant two weeks ago.”, Amanda replied. “They grow up so fast.”, T’Set said. Amanda chuckled. “I think that’s supposed to be my line. But tell me, how are things on your side? How is T’Alam doing?”, Amanda inquired after T’Set’s girlfriend. “She is on a conference off-world, but will return tonight.” “She presented?”, Amanda presumed. “Indeed, her studies on the Vulcan telepathy genes were quite well received, or so she tells me.”, T’Set explained. “That’s good to hear.”, Amanda said.

The vehicle landed on a free spot of desert sand next to two others, about a hundred kilometers away from _Shi’Kahr_. “It seems we have arrived.”, T’Set commented and took her bag. When they stepped outside, they found that a wave of heat was rolling towards and engulfing them. “I hate summer.”, Amanda murmured. “The heat is not exactly to my liking either.”, T’Set replied just as softly. Amanda adjusted her hood so the suns wouldn’t shine in her eyes so much. They followed the sound of shoveling.

Behind a rock formation, they encountered several trenches dug through the sand (secured with metallic planks), that were seemingly randomly arranged. Amanda knew that this was a team of Vulcan archeologists working here, and therefore quite sure that it wasn’t random at all. They went up to the nearest trench.

The archeologists in the trench looked up to them, and one who had been scraping something on the floor of the trench stood and climbed up to them. She removed her work gloves and greeted them the Vulcan way. “Dr Grayson and Dr T’Set, I thank you for arriving in such a timely manner. My name is Verin and I lead this excavation.”, she introduced herself. “If you will follow me?”

They followed Verin towards another rock formation. “We have opened the grave only very recently. We need you to identify the entombed person’s status, so we can decide on our next steps, mainly if we should search for other tombs in the vicinity.”, Verin explained. “Can you tell us something about the epoch?”, Amanda asked. Verin took a see-through bag from her pocket. “This sherd was found inside the grave. It stems from the late T’Sanisu culture, judging from the make and the components. This means that we expect the grave to be between 5300 and 5400 years old.”, Verin replied. “I see.”, Amanda said.

“This is the grave.”, Verin said and her voice echoed in the hollow chamber. It was almost as tall as deep, and there was nothing but a three-meter statue of a Vulcan warrior on the far wall. Well, and the writings of course. The writings covered all four walls, with the name of the dead inscribed in red letters next to the statue. It was probably their biography, as grandiose and exaggerated as all the other grave texts Amanda and T’Set had already translated.

“Well, let’s get to work.”, Amanda announced after Verin left them. “I believe we should begin over here; this appears like the beginning to me.”, T’Set said and pointed to some text next to the statue. “I’ll do the photographing if you’ll begin transcribing.”, Amanda offered. T’Set nodded and they went to work. They were a great team, after all.

They were already doing a rough translation of the material they gathered, having to look up quite many words in the dictionary, when they heard a commotion from outside. In all her years on Vulcan, Amanda had learned that when there was a commotion, you better looked what it was about, as it could well be a fire or something else that was rather dangerous. And so, her and T’Set looked, standing at the entrance of the grave. The archeologists used a hand-operated crane to lift a piece of the ground out of a trench. They carefully let the block down on a tracked transport vehicle. Verin climbed onto it and carefully extracted something from the top of the block. The other archeologists looked at it in awe. Verin scraped some more of the dirt off and accepted a see-through and padded box to lay the object inside. Only then, one of the others saw that T’Set and Amanda were watching them, and proudly waved them over.

“What have you found?”, T’Set inquired. “A mummified body with a most unusual type of grave good.”, the archeologists that had waved them over explained. He seemed to be on the older side of one hundred, but still looked like he had never seen anything like that before. “See for yourself.”, he offered and pointed towards the box. They did.

“A sword?”, Amanda wondered. “Isn’t that quite usual?” Verin had finished securing the block and came over to them. “It would be. This type of sword, however, is not known to us. In fact, it looks rather alien.”, she explained. “Truly?”, T’Set asked, in awe. “Why is it so black?”, Amanda asked. “We believe that this might be obsidian, the volcanic material, but further tests are needed.” “Is this writing?”, T’Set suddenly asked. Immediately, the archeologists were next to her and had a closer look. “You mean the grayish swirls in the middle of the shaft?”, the older archeologist asked. “It looks quite familiar. May I take the sword in my hands to have a better look?”, T’Set inquired. “Certainly.”, Verin said.

“You think this is proto-Betazoid, don’t you?”, Amanda asked. T’Set looked at the sword in her hands for a long moment. “It is.”, she simply stated and glanced at Amanda. “I also believe that I am able to decipher it, if you wish.”, she offered. The archeologists nodded, seemingly over their pointy ears in anticipation.

T’Set turned the sword around so that the point was pointing towards her, and began to read, very slowly. “ _Mear an gwone el_ …”, she began. “I think it’s ‘ _alton_ ’.”, Amanda interjected. “Ah, yes.”, T’Set acknowledged her. “ _Mear an gwone alton._ ”, she translated the full text.

Then, something happened that Amanda knew she would never forget. A blinding light erupted from the point, and hit T’Set square in the chest. She yowled very unlike a Human, but rather like a hurt Vulcan, and fell backwards to the ground. Amanda was next to her within the second. “T’Set?”, she asked shaking her friend lightly. When she didn’t open her eyes, Amanda searched for a pulse out of reflex. Of course, she didn’t feel anything, as the Vulcan circulatory system worked quite differently. One of the archeologists, a younger male this time, kneeled next to her, medical tricorder in hand. They probably had a first aid kit somewhere. “She is still alive.”, he commented. “But why won’t she wake up?”, Amanda asked, her voice anything but level. “I must say that I am no expert in medicine. I do not know.”, the other replied, looking hard at the tricorder like he could force it to speak a language he could understand.

Verin was there a few seconds later, holding what looked like a tarp in her arms. “I have informed medical services. I suggest we move her into a shadow until they arrive.” While the archaeologists moved T’Set on the tarp like they had done something like that before, Amanda could do nothing but stand there. Although she was in the middle of a desert, she felt very cold, so cold that she was frozen in place. What if something happened to T’Set? Amanda didn’t even want to imagine. Could she run the department on her own? Trying to free herself from these thoughts, and not wanting the others to see her panicked tears, she turned and went back to the grave. She would pick up their equipment.

An hour later, Amanda sat in a darkened room in Shi’Kahr. The healer had told her that T’Set had been hit by what she called ‘a particularly strong stunning beam’, and was in a healing trance now. After this assessment, she had been moved to the floor reserved for patients in such a state. Amanda had been allowed to stay, under the condition that she would remain calm and quiet. This proved rather difficult. “You know, I have never seen a real healing trance.”, she told her friend’s unconscious form. She had heard that talking to a Vulcan in a healing trance would have a calming effect. The question was only on whom. “You look very… unconscious.”, she said next, almost chocking when she realized what she had just said. “And comfy.”, she added quickly. “Are those padded blankets?”, she asked and touched the uppermost. Undercooling was apparently a real danger. “They are.”, Amanda stated. They were silent for a moment. Well, Amanda was, anyway. “And people say linguistics aren’t a hands-on science.”, she said and giggled manically. “Study languages, get phasered by a millennia-old obsidian sword.”, Amanda imitated nobody in particular. “I need to do something, or I am going to go crazy right now.”, she said and sighed.

For lack of anything else to do, Amanda looked at their notes from earlier, and returned to translating the rest of the grave text. She almost broke her electronic pen when she stumbled over a particular sentence. “You need to hear that!”, she said to T’Set. “There are aliens!”, she exclaimed excitedly. “I better read the whole paragraph.”

_“For two years after the triple-day of the sun, strangers from the sky reached our lands. For they were powerful, I made allies in them, defending my people from the threat of the western hordes. It was a house they had come in, but the house was made only from the finest ores. Their swords were black, killing their enemies without a touch, should the swordsman utter the words in the secret language.”_

“Well, this guy seems to know what this is all about.”, Amanda commented as soon as she was finished. “Although you are not dead, obviously.”, she added. “Just imagine, Betazoids on Vulcan even before the time of Surak.”, Amanda blabbered on. Her silent interlocutor made her nervous. “Let’s see if there is any more.”, she decided. She continued translating.

_“After three years, some of the strangers left in the house, leaving their companions behind, and never returned. The strangers look like us, except their eyes are dark and their ears quite different. Their minds are not silent as the animals, but they can speak with them as well. Our children are not like either, and their minds can reach out effortlessly.”_

“Yep, those are definitely Betazoids.”, Amanda finally realized. “But, also, ‘ _our children’_? Nobody is going to believe this.” T’Set obviously didn’t reply.

Heart beating a little faster than usually, Amanda translated the rest of the biography, but there wasn’t anything more pertaining _‘the strangers from the sky’_ , to her enormous let down. After returning from the bathroom, she realized that it was already getting dark outside, and that Sarek had asked her when she was coming home. Amanda glanced at T’Set. “I can’t come home tonight.”, she texted back. It was only a few seconds until her husband replied. “Where are you?”, he asked. Really not feeling like explaining anything over text, she sent him her position and the number of the room.

It was a while later when Sarek came basically bursting into the room. He was wearing what could be considered the Vulcan equivalent of t-shirt and sweatpants, and looked like he had hurried. Only then Amanda realized what she had done. “You thought it was me, didn’t you?”, she asked. “Indeed.”, Sarek replied and sat down next to his wife. Amanda put a hand on his arm. “I didn’t want to make you worry.”, she said, feeling a little bad about the situation. “Vulcans do not _‘worry’_. However, I would appreciate if you were more mindful of your wording next time.” She ruffled his hair a bit. “We’ll see if I can remember it.”

“Would you tell me what has happened to T’Set?”, Sarek asked. “It is a very strange story.” “I am willing to listen.”, Sarek replied, one eyebrow lifted. “We were on this dig site, and in the middle of translating, they found this sword. It has writing on it that looks like proto-Betazoid, and T’Set read it aloud.”, Amanda explained. “This does not yet explain why she is in a healing trance.”, Sarek said, laying one arm around his wife, knowing that it would calm her. “Well, there was this energy beam coming out of the point, and it hit her. That’s all that happened, really.” Sarek looked at her like she was lying. “A magic sword?”, he asked, amused. “That’s what you say. To me, it looked like some kind of contraption.”, Amanda said and stopped, suddenly realizing what Sarek had just told her. “You have heard of something like this before?”, she asked sharply.

“My grandfather told me quite a few stories of the old world when I was young. They are myths and legends of course, but I always found myself captivated by them.”, Sarek explained. Amanda had to grin at the mental picture of a baby Sarek sitting on grandpa Solkar’s lap. “And there were magic swords in these stories?”, Amanda wondered. “Indeed. They could be activated by voice command and they would shoot energy beams, like you have related.”, Sarek replied. “My fairytale book has never been so cool.”, Amanda said, and Sarek did that thing were Amanda could tell that he was laughing inwardly. “They were certainly not _‘cool’_. Instead, these swords were symbols for hybris and the danger of a power too great. The user usually ended up destroying himself and his family.”

“Do you think they are real?”, Amanda wondered. “While I must say that I still am somewhat sceptic, your discovery is quite remarkable.”, Sarek replied. “What if everything else from these stories is true in some way as well?”, Amanda wanted to know, suddenly captivated by the thought. “It would be quite alarming, for then, the world would have been destroyed three times already, and we should all expect quite horrible things after our deaths.”, Sarek said. Amanda looked at him, wide-eyed. “Let’s just hope they’re not more than myths, then.”


	2. Second Part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T'Set wakes up. Her subsequent paper has some uncomfortable side effects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally came around to writing the second part. This means I will now have time to work on my other WIPs. Yeah.

When Amanda woke the next day, she found that she was leaning against her husband, drooling over him. He didn’t seem to mind particularly. In fact, he looked like he was still asleep. When he felt Amanda move, he woke as well, slowly blinking. Sleeping in a sitting position wasn’t comfortable for Vulcans either.

Wordlessly, both turned to have a look at T’Set, who was still lying in the hospital bed in front of them. “Is she still unconscious?”, Amanda murmured. “It appears so.”, Sarek agreed, looking like the manifestation of a computer that was still booting.

A few minutes later, Sarek left the room in search for some breakfast. Amanda sat herself nearer to T’Set again. “How much longer is this going to take?”, she asked aloud. A slight stirring went through T’Set. “No longer.”, she croaked, trying to open her eyes. “What?”, Amanda asked, panic threatening to overflow her. A light on the discretely incorporated life control panel began to flash. T’Set stirred again. “Slap me.”, she managed, her voice incredibly soft. Amanda, suddenly remembering the few things she knew about this aspect of Vulcan physiology, flattened her hand and gave her friend a slap that would have given any Andorian street fighter a run for their money.

T’Set yowled and rolled up in a ball, eyes wide open. “This was sufficient.”, she murmured, rubbing the ear whose point had been privy to the impact. “I’m sorry, T’Set. I didn’t know how hard I should go in.”, Amanda said, sorry and embarrassed at the same time. “It is alright. But I have to ask you to remind me not to get in a fistfight with you, should the occasion arise.”, T’Set said, taking the situation in stride.

A doctor was with them only a few seconds later. He seemed a little confused as to how a Human would know anything about a healing trance or even assist, but stayed silent on that matter. Instead, he interrogated T’Set on her physical condition. “You are free of any injuries. I however advise you to avoid physical strain for the remainder of the week.”, he concluded. “You may leave.”, he added as he got up from the kneeling position next to T’Set’s bed. T’Set nodded in acknowledgement.

When Sarek returned soon after, T’Set was ready to go. He raised an eyebrow. “I would have brought something for you as well, had I known that you would be awake so soon.”, he tried, but T’Set waved him to stop. “I will leave as soon as possible.”, she said and got up from the bed. “The food at the VSA’s cafeteria is much better anyway.”, she added. Sarek and Amanda exchanged glances. “You want to go straight to work?”, Amanda asked. T’Set nodded. “I have made a most remarkable discovery. I believe that should be worth an VSA interna at least.”, she explained.

Sarek had managed to excuse himself on the way to the VSA. He had said something about wanting to change into something adequate for work, but Amanda was quite sure that he planned on calling in sick and taking a nap. It would not have been the first time. Amanda, however, was not so lucky. T’Set used her long legs to their full capability, and Amanda had to jog to keep up with her. “Nobody’s going to steal our discovery, no need to run.”, Amanda tried to pace her, but to no avail. T’Set was simply too energetic at the moment.

When they finally reached their office, they found that the sword had been deposited on the table, still packed in the box, and with an accompanying note. “For your closer inspection. The Su’Ram-e Excavation Team.”, Amanda deciphered the note. Archeologists could be as bad as doctors when it came to handwriting. T’Set nodded in appreciation. “If you would be so kind as to photograph the writing, then I will begin to set up the interna.”, she told Amanda.

It was surprisingly hard to get the whole script up close and completely in the frame, so eventually Amanda gave up and decided to just put several pictures together. When she sat down at her computer console next to T’Set, she could see that T’Set was half finished with her report already. She tried to be fast with the editing, but T’Set had the words just flowing out of her fingers. She was barely able to add the picture before T’Set turned to her.

“What should the title be?”, she asked. “What about: Indications for pre-Surakian contact with Betazoids found in grave?”, Amanda suggested. T’Set half-smiled. “Wonderfully flat. We might make a Vulcan of you yet, _zhai’sa-fu_.”, she said. She turned back to her console and entered the suggested title. Then, she hit the affirmation button. The text was now available on the VSA’s intranet.

When they were finally sitting in the cafeteria, both having a Vulcan breakfast fruit salad in front of them, Amanda sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Let’s go home early today, alright?”, she asked, more for her than out of concern for T’Set’s health. Some Vulcans seemed to do even better when they were sick or injured, to Amanda’s occasional chagrin. “If you wish.”, T’Set relented. They were silent for a few moments. “Should we tell the students?”, T’Set wondered suddenly.

Somebody moved into the light that shone into Amanda’s face. It was their student assistant, helpful as always. “I believe most are already aware.”, he said monotonously. Amanda was startled, but she would have denied it if asked. “Did you need us?”, T’Set asked, switching into her _‘respectable scientist’_ -mode. “Yes, Professor T’Set. There appears to be a crowd forming in front your office. “A crowd?”, Amanda wondered. “I guess people would want to have a look at the sword.”, she answered for herself. “I am afraid you are mistaken, Professor Grayson. They seem to be mostly members of the history department. They strongly wish to disagree with you on some points of your latest interna, or so it appears.”, the assistant explained. T’Set raised an eyebrow and looked at Amanda.

Five minutes later, they reached their office door. It would have been faster if T’Set had not gotten in a debate with the cafeteria chef concerning her trying to take her meal, and especially the bowl and cutlery, with her. Healing trances required a great amount of energy that needed to be replenished, and so T’Set was carrying her salad with her, now in a paper container however. She was taking a bite every few meters. As according to the assistant, there was indeed a crowd in front of the door. From the colors and symbols on their uniforms, there were indeed members of the history department but Amanda could also spot a few scholars of religious and philosophical thought, as well as a xenobiologist. “What exactly did you write in your interna?”, Amanda murmured pointedly. “Our interna, since I have indicated you as an author as well.”, T’Set corrected her helpfully.

_“How long will you stand with your blasphemous behavior?” “It is well documented that Vulcan Betazoid interbreeding is impossible.” “Our First Contact was with the people of Andor.” “Weapons were fashioned from stone by early Vulcans all over the planet.” “Has the artifact’s stratigraphic age been confirmed?” “Grave texts often use allegory and allusion, have you remembered this?” “Typical Human illogic!”_

The questions and accusations hammered onto the two linguists. Remembering that Vulcan scientists used to prove their points in a fistfight, Amanda grabbed both the assistant and T’Set, who almost let go of her salad during to that maneuver, and pulled them inside the office. These were traditional people after all. “These people are rather uncourteous.”, the assistant remarked. Amanda couldn’t help but snort. “If you ever tire of being a linguist, I see a radiant future as a diplomat for you.”, she said, but the young man just looked slightly confused. “We will confront them.”, T’Set decided without the other’s input. Amanda wanted to say that this might not be the best of ideas, but T’Set had already opened the door.

“Listen to me!”, she shouted towards the crowd. “I have merely related what I believe to be the truth. It stands to discuss these findings in a productive and respectful way.”, she continued to shout. The accusations became only worse. _“We will respect you as soon as you respect our planet’s history.”_ , one particularly zealous historian shouted. Amanda knew that she had published quite a few papers on First Contacts. “I believe we are all a bit overreacting. And that’s coming from a Human.”, Amanda lifted her voice as well. The xenobiologist right in front of her looked awfully furious and ready to throw the first punch. Amanda moved a few paces backwards.

“Excuse me, please.”, somebody said overly politely. Before Amanda could register what was happening, a writing board was rolled in front of her. It was one of that kind that, in ancient times, might have been called a blackboard. That word would have been deficient to use with this object however, as it was a see-through pane, easily written on with magnetic pens. The angry scientists on the other side were still visible, albeit a little blurry. T’Set threw Amanda a surprised and excited look. They couldn’t see who their mysterious savior was.

“My name is T’Alam, I am a fellow of the genetic research department.”, the woman who had brought the writing board announced to the group. She was, of course, T’Set’s girlfriend. Now Amanda grinned too. “I have found in my studies that there is a remarkable similarity between the so-called Vulcan HTR-45 gene and the TP-2 gene complex of Betazoids. Both are responsible for the carrier’s telepathic abilities.”, T’Alam continued. “So remarkably similar in fact, that spontaneous mutation in that form is highly unlikely, especially when compared to the numerous ways telepathy is achieved in even such a small sample size as the Federation. I therefore come to the conclusion that Vulcan-Betazoid interbreeding is not only possible, but has occurred at some earlier point in time.” Now, everyone was silent.

“You may study my paper in detail. I have brought copies.” T’Alam dropped a big staple of paper foil into the nearest historian’s arms. “Thank you for making sure that everyone receives a copy.”, she said, before moving her board to the side and entering the linguist’s office. She closed the door behind her.

“The flight was delayed, I only reached Vulcan this morning.”, T’Alam said, while looking softly at T’Set. “I have heard that you have been injured.”, T’Alam continued, her tone slightly accusatory. “Nothing a healing trance could not repair.”, T’Set replied, trying to soothe her girlfriend. “A healing trance? T’Set, you should be in bed!”, T’Alam replied, amused and concerned at the same time. T’Set gave her a look, and T’Alam gave her a sharp look back. The assistant seemed rather uncomfortable at this point. “Besides, we have missed our Andorian movie night, have we not?”, T’Alam tried as persuasion. Finally, T’Set gave in and let herself be dragged behind T’Alam. “I will see you tomorrow, Amanda.”, T’Set said before the door fell shut behind her.

“You can go too.”, Amanda told the assistant. “But…”, the young man begun. “You can write down the full day as work, of course.”, Amanda said, tiredly. “I’m sure you have some studying to do.” The assistant nodded. “Thank you, Professor.”, he said. Amanda didn’t answer, as she had already fallen asleep in her office chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Swings pendulum* Listen to my breath. Now listen to me. You want to write a review. Now, your arms will get very light and they will move to the keyboard. Now type. Yes, very good. *continues to swing pendulum*

**Author's Note:**

> T'Set has now played a role (even if it was really minor) in five stories of mine. I think this is quite a lot? Anyways, I am very happy about all kinds of replies.


End file.
